Practical No.

7
Learning Objectives :
 Demonstration of the relationship between input and surface
temperature in forced convection.
 Demonstration of the use of extended surfaces to improve heat
transfer from the surface.

Apparatus :
Free and Forced convection heat transfer unit (TH320)

Main parts :
1. Air outlet
2. Air duct
3. Finned surface
4. Flat plate
5. Control panel
6. Pinned plate

Theory :
Introduction
Heat transfer by simultaneous conduction and convection,whether free
or forced,forms the basis of most industrial heat exchangers and related
equipment.The measurement and prediction of heat exchanger
coefficients for such circumstances is achieved in the ESSOM free and
force convection by studying the temperature profiles and heat flux in an
air duct with associated flat and extended transfer surfaces.
The vertical duct is so constructed that the air temperature and velocity
can be readily measured and a variety of plug-in modules of heated solid
surfaces of known dimensions can be presented to the air stream for
detailed study.

Use the instrumentation provided,free and force convective heat transfer

coefficients may be determined for :

 A flat surface
 A array of cylinders (pinned heat sink)
 A array of fins (finned heat sink)

Forced Convection
In free convection the heat transfer rate from the surface is limited by the
small movements of air generated by this heat.More heat is transferred if
the air velocity is increased over the heated surface.This process of
assisting the movement of air over the heated surface is called forced
convection.Therefore a heated surface experiencing forced convection
will have a lower surface temperature than that of the same surface in
free convection for the same power input.
Typical graph of air velocity against surface temperature

Extended surface
Heat transfer from an object can be improved by increasing the surface
area in contact with the air.In practice it may be difficult to increase the
size of body to suit.In these circumstances the surface area in contact
with the air may be increased by adding pins or fins to the surface.These
features are called extended surfaces.A typical example is the use of fins
on the cylinder and head of air cooled petrol engine.

Procedure :
1. Ready the apparatus for working.
2. Place the fan assembly on top of duct.
3. Place the flat plate heat exchanger into the duct.
4. Note the ambient air temperature(tA).
5. Set the heater power control to 75 watts.Allow the temperature to
rise to 80 C and then adjust heater power control to 15 watts until a
steady reading is obtained.Note heated plate temperature(tH).
 6. Set the fan speed control to give 1m/s using the thermal
anemometer.
7. Repeat this procedure at 1 m/s and 2m/s for flat plate.
8. Repeat the experiment by replacing flat plate with finned and
pinned plate.

Observations and calculations :

Ambient air temp(tA) = 29.5 c
Input power = 15 watts

Air velocity Plate Temp(tH) tH-tA

m/s C C

Pinned Finned Flat Pinned Finned Flat

0 57.5 49.3 82.1 28.0 19.8 42.6
1 47.1 40.2 76.5 17.6 11.1 47.0
2 41.1 37.1 73.0 11.6 7.2 43.5
2.5 39.6 35.2 70.9 10.1 5.7 41.4